Different communities join together for clean up

Last updated: 22/10/2013 14:34:53

Community members from Pleck, Beechdale, Leamore and Blakenall have come together to help clean up a sensory garden at the new Frank F Harrison Training and Education Centre in Bloxwich.

The clean up was carried out through a partnership between Walsall Council, Walsall Hindu Forum and Frank F Harrison Community Association as part of a national volunteering day called SEWA which is an Indian word which is pronounced “seva” and translates to mean "selfless service”

Nigel Rowe, Walsall Council’s community cohesion coordinator, said the aim of the day was to encourage communities to come together who from different backgrounds. The project built on the success of recent projects delivered by Walsall Hindu Forum including entertaining elderly residents at Delves Court Care Home, a clean up of Pleck Park and a food collection to assist vulnerable families, in partnership with the Church at Junction 10.

The Walsall Hindu Forum members wanted to assist with improving the local environment as part of the SEWA day and Deb Mohammed, Business Manager, at Frank F Harrison Training and Education Centre in Bloxwich wanted to bring the Pinfold Centre’s sensory garden back to life through a clean up. The two came together and agreed the work that needed to be done and through support from Safer Walsall Partnership the project was delivered successfully. Over 50 bags of refuse was collected during the community clear up-day and then the group sat down together to have some hard earned refreshments and share time learning about the communities they lived in.

Councillor Zahid Ali, Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Protection said “A lot of refuse was picked up during the day by a mixture of volunteers from the Bloxwich and Beechdale communities, supported by the Hindu community who live across Walsall and the project was a complete success.

The majority of Walsall communities are people who get on well with all of their neighbours and the project evidenced how such obviously different communities work together for the greater good through the principles of SEWA in a combined selfless service. I am confident that this will be the start of many more projects that bring people together from different communities taking social responsibilities seriously and making a difference to communities through positive activities.”

If you would like to know more about taking part in cohesion activities or ahve any ideas to bring people together from different areas then please contact Nigel Rowe on email rowen@walsall.gov.uk telephone: 01922 655407